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I see lots of these "stripey fields" in Bing.

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asked 21 Feb '11, 18:50

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fluteflute
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These are fields planted with crops. Their stripy pattern is really just an indication of the time when the aerial photography was taken: late enough for the crop to show, but early enough that the wheel tracks of the tractor are still highly visible. Usually these can be tagged landuse=farmland (better than the ambiguous landuse=farm), but it is important to check that the area has not changed use since the images. I have recently noticed Bing images where it is obvious that farmland has changed to a retail park in the last 10 years.

If you have reason to believe - typically, through familiarity with the area - that these fields are always used for crops (i.e., they are arable), you can indicate this by adding a tag farmland=crops, but this is very rarely used, and cannot be considered a consensus use.

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answered 21 Feb '11, 19:14

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SK53 ♦
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1

And please also use the recommended "source=Bing" tag so other mappers can judge the relevance of your mapping. See: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Bing#Source_tag

(21 Feb '11, 19:30) gnurk

The stripes are actually called tramlines. They aren't just wheeltracks; when the field is seeded deliberate gaps are left so that tractors can get in and out (for spraying) without destroying any crop.

The photo above looks like it was taken in May / June time (by the length of the shadows / height of the sun, assuming that this is the UK of course). The three darker fields look like wheat; the large lower one I'm not sure. What they are now (e.g. a retail park!) is anyone's guess.

So yes - what SK53 said - they're just fields.

(21 Feb '11, 21:25) SomeoneElse ♦

What's that feature that goes from bottom right to top middle though? Is it a former railway? It's about the right width...

(21 Feb '11, 21:26) SomeoneElse ♦

the sprayer as a huge span,and the tracks are very precise.have heard that the soil can be tested under GPS control the spraying is then metered to suit the map of soil sampling also under GPS control.

(21 Feb '11, 21:45) andy mackey

One way to check against a change to a retail park or other development (in the UK) is to also check the OS_OpenData_Streetview data.

(23 Feb '11, 08:43) fluteflute
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question asked: 21 Feb '11, 18:50

question was seen: 5,388 times

last updated: 23 Feb '11, 08:43

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum